This season has been all about Michigan’s ability to respond.

Throughout the Wolverines’ five-game losing streak that ended last week at Minnesota, their frustrated, closed-off postgame reactions were interchangeable and predictable. They answered questions about motivation by saying they would try to win for the seniors.

But after their fourth straight home loss Saturday, with their biggest rivalry game looming ahead, they were just deflated.

The emotion wasn’t the shock of the Toledo game, when the Wolverines were embarrassed after losing to a Mid-American Conference team for the first time.

It wasn’t the despair of the Penn State game, when a halftime lead looked so promising before Michigan was blown out by 29.

It wasn’t the letdown of the Purdue game, when bowl hopes officially ended after allowing the Boilermakers' last-minute touchdown.

Instead, the Wolverines just sounded tired and unmotivated — and at this point, even a win against Ohio State can’t salvage Michigan’s season.

Yes, the Wolverines talked a lot Saturday about looking forward to the Buckeyes, including Donovan Warren’s remark that “all the anger that’s built up this season” will be let out in Columbus.

But after watching Saturday’s apathetic postgame display, believing that Michigan is truly pumped up for Ohio State wasn’t as easy as it has usually been.

You almost had to feel sorry for them.

The worst team in Michigan history sealed that fate on a miserable, rainy afternoon in front of a Big House crowd that was anything but big. Instead of booing at halftime, like they did when Michigan was losing 19-0 against Wisconsin, the fans just filed out in droves. They were freezing, wet and unwilling to see their team lose, even though the Wolverines were winning 14-7 at the time.

Rodriguez wasn’t snide or sarcastic in the postgame press conference after Michigan's eighth loss, like he has been for most of the season. He was almost mellow, calmly answering the tough questions.

Senior Terrance Taylor’s motivational speech to a quiet locker room after the game sounded like goodbye.

"He just told us that he loved playing with us and, 'Don't let a season like this happen again,' " offensive lineman John Ferrara said. “Even if we did go 0-13, we are Michigan and we stand for everything that Michigan's about."

They sounded as if they didn't have to play another game this season.

Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bacher unwittingly summed up Michigan’s troubles best after the game, while he discussed Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald’s motivational style.

“It’s 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond,” Bacher explained. “It’s kind of how you’ve got to live your life.”

The Wildcats have taken that to heart. They haven't lost consecutive games this season. After a heartbreaking two-point road loss to Indiana, Northwestern traveled to Minnesota the next week and scored the winning touchdown with 12 seconds left in the game.

But Michigan has repeatedly proven it isn’t a rebound team. The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry holds no Wolverine postseason implications for the first time in recent memory. Michigan consistently falls far behind fast or loses early leads.

Even though the Wolverines insist they only think about the games for 24 hours, they have yet to effectively respond to the losses, both with what they say and what they do.

That’ll need to change if the Wolverines still believe they have one game left.

— Ratkowiak can be reached at cratkowi@umich.edu.